Blurb....
When Johnny K is
kidnapped and held to ransom, his daughter turns to his old friend Tiny. She
has 72 hours to deliver a disc with sensitive data on it to the kidnappers. But
some people are watching Tiny’s every move – waiting for him to trip up and
lead them to what they want.
Phew........ 420-odd pages of pure adrenaline filled,
roller-coasting rocket fuel. I managed to read this in less than a day over the
weekend, when I might typically read on average about 100-odd pages a day over
the course of a month.
There must be something in the water in South Africa as
Meyer and his fellow countrymen, Mike Nicol and Roger Smith have churned out
some of the best crime fiction I’ve read in the past 6 months.
Heart Of The Hunter is one of Meyer’s earlier books
originally published back in 2003. Since then he has attracted a wider audience
with 13 Hours, Trackers and his latest book 7 Days. Of his 3 most recent books,
I have only read Trackers which if I’m totally honest didn’t blow me away like
this and last month’s reading highlight- Blood Safari. 13 Hours is on mount TBR
along with his earlier stuff.
Meyer gives us Thobela
Mpayipheli – former fighter in the struggle for equality in South Africa. Thobela
has a checkered past; previously loaned out by the ANC resistance, as a favour to
operate for the KGB as an assassin; but now post-apartheid surplus to
requirements. Thobela after a few years as an enforcer in the drugs trade has gone
straight. With an ordinary Joe job and his love for a women and her son he has
a dream of a farm where they can bring up the boy away from the dangers and
temptations of the crime-ridden city; a place where he can learn to grow crops
and see life flourish from his efforts, instead of choking it off at the core.
Tiny’s plans are
on track, until a former friend is kidnapped and he’s sucked back into the
vortex. To save his friend he has to deliver a disc to Lusaka within 3 days.
Before too long he’s fallen foul of the intelligence services seeking to
recover the disc and stop the data falling into enemy hands. Thebola fleeing on
a stolen motor-bike becomes a fugitive in a massive man-hunt organised by the authorities
and fueled by the media which has broken the story.
Does the interests
of the state, over-ride the basic rights of her citizens? Can you be loyal to
the state but retain your principles and behave according to your conscience?
Can people fundamentally change and out-grow their past and become more?
Sometimes you
start reading a book that starts out in a promising fashion, but along the way
loses its edge and ultimately crawls to an unsatisfactory conclusion. Not this
book, and from the evidence of the last month or two, not this author. Pedal to
metal from first page to last
5 from 5
Borrowed from my
local library.
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